STF 1: “What Was That Boy Thinking?”

Me bad.

I haven't written in so long because, besides swapping a flu thing back and forth with Martin, I've had some serious family business.

To make up for it, I'm inauguarating a new column on this blog called STRANGER THAN FICTION. Would these newsbits make for fun novels, or would your agent or editor say, "Nah. Sounds too unrealistic…"?

You tell me.

I'll try to write this column around a theme. This first one truly lives up to it's title: "What Was That Boy Thinking?"

ITEM #!: Bat Boy and Sidekick Gets Their Due…
If you been watched AMERICAN IDOL last week, then you know about the two plucky dudes, who came armed more moxie than talent, but unfortunately were the but of Simon's ill-mannered remarks because of they way they looked, as opposed to how they can sing. Yeah, Simon, the public knows that this is supposedly a talent contest. That said, then why do your producers keep rolling tape (and airing it) on those with little hope of being chosen as finalists?

Well, duh. Because it makes great TV.

That said, I'm glad to see that these two guys, whose can-do attitudes catapulted them onto the couches of almost every national talk show, got the last laff — and a well-deserved fifteen minutes of fame, despite being Simonized.

Thinking positive rocks.

NOVEL CONCEPT HERE: The boys get their own Truman Show-esque Reality TV series — and it beats IDOL's off-the-charts ratings.

Item #2: Too Uncool for School…
This one deserves truly deserves the "Earth to Idiot" award: A charter school in Phoenix allowed Neil Havens Rodreick II, a 29-year-old sex offender, to enroll as a 12-year-old seventh grader. He was enrolled for over sixty days before the truth came to light.

To the school's credit, they weren't the only ones to fall for the ruse: he'd pulled the same stunt at other schools, according to CNN, and gotten away with it no less in at least two of those.

Supposedly he fooled a couple of the 60-plus men he was living with, as well– though it seems more likely that they were using him to scout and cajole likely victims.

NOVEL CONCEPT HERE: I would have his teacher get an obsessive crush on him, and then kidnap him…

Yeah, I know: truly twisted.

Sad Baby Story…The partially-mummified remains of a baby was found in a suitcase found in an abandoned Delray Beach, Florida storage locker before the auction of its contents. Authorities say that it looks as if the baby died in the 1950s. The deceased owners had owned the locker since 1996. However,, others had access to the locker as well….

NOVEL CONCEPT HERE: Wondering if the body is that of an unwanted older sibling, or if it is a clue to her parents' ongoing emotional conflicts, the daughter of the couple that owned the locker investigates her parents' past…

NOVEL CONCEPT HERE: In the book version, not only would the president be a rapist, he will have killed his victim and covered it up…until the hero or heroine discovers the truth and brings up to justice…

Then again, wasn't that the plot of the 1987 film NO WAY OUT, with Gene Hackman, Kevin Costner and Sean Young?

If you've run across any news item that seems stranger than fiction, send it on over…